A Strike of Lightning
by Foxlight the Dragon Trainer
Summary: "Stoick watched in horror as the unconscious body of his only son plummeted off the ship and fell into the icy water with a small splash." The ending of Riders of Berk: Episode 13, but from the chief's POV. One-shot, please review!


Stoick the Vast, standing side-by-side with Gobber, scowled at the Viking warrior in front of him, who was trying to get around the chief. "If you want to get to that dragon, you're going to have to go through us," he warned, unsheathing a sword from his belt and holding it aggressively out in front of him. Toothless struggled against his chains, but he couldn't break the iron bars holding him to the wooden platform.

Mulch pushed through the crowd of angry Vikings and stood in front of the chief, Bucket following right behind. "Thank you, lads," Stoick acknowledged as they took a stance in front of him, so there were four warriors guarding the trapped Night Fury.

"If we're choosing sides, Mulch," Bucket muttered with a slight shiver, "there's more over there." He gulped. "Lots more!"

"We stand with the chief, Bucket," Mulch replied firmly, much to Stoick's pleasure. It was good to know that at least a few of Berk's villagers were still on his side. Mildew had them all convinced that the lightning storms raging across Berk were caused by Toothless- a Night Fury, the "unholy offspring of lightning and death itself". They all thought that Thor was sending the lightning because Toothless was staying on the island.

One Viking lunged forward, sword in hand. Stoick was ready, but the man wasn't even close before a large shape collided into him, knocking him out of the way.

"Stop!" cried a familiar voice from the back of Stormfly, Astrid's dragon. Stoick looked up in amazement at his son as the blue Deadly Nadder landed, folding her wings behind her. Hiccup swung his leg over the side of the dragon and slid to the ground before she had fully landed and raced over to the Vikings who were trying to get to Toothless, a spear in his hand. "Stop!" he repeated. "You could get rid of Toothless- you could throw him off the edge of the world!- but it's not going to stop this lightning from destroying Berk." He paced the docks, in-between the crowd of angry Vikings and the few who had stayed loyal to Stoick.

A few Vikings muttered angrily to each other. Hiccup held up his spear. "It's the metal!" he cried. Lightning lit up the sky behind him, reflecting off of the smooth surface of the weapon. "The lightning is hitting the metal." A few angry grumbles came from the crowd, and Hiccup continued, "Just think about it! We never had a lightning storm like _this_ until we put up those perches!" He gestured towards the sky, which was covered in dark thunderclouds. "And that statue, right? And they're _all_ made of metal!" Another crash of thunder shook the skies.

"Now, come on," Mildew scowled, limping forward to stand next to Hiccup. "Have you ever heard of anything so insane?" Most of the Vikings grumbled their agreement, yelling at Hiccup.

Stoick's son ran to the edge of the dock, near his dragon's tail. "There- you see this?" he asked, holding up the tail with what was left of the prosthetic attached. The fabric was completely gone and there was nothing left but a few strands of twisted metal. "This is where the lightning struck Toothless. On this connecting rod- this _metal_ connecting rod!"

But still the opposing warriors did not agree. They cried out angrily, still demanding that the Night Fury be thrown off the island to calm Thor.

Hiccup looked around at the Vikings, eyes narrowed. "Look- if you don't believe me, I can prove it." He put Toothless's tail back down onto the docks and ran over to Stormfly. Astrid reached down, grabbing his hand and pulling him up onto the Nadder's back. "Fly me up."

Astrid nodded, and the dragon took flight, circling once around the ship before hovering next to the mast. Hiccup leapt off and landed on the very top of the ship, still holding tightly to his spear.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Stoick heard Astrid's demanding voice ask.

"Sure?" Hiccup replied hesitantly. "Uhh... that's a strong word. It's really more of a hunch." At the worried look in Astrid's eyes, he quickly added, "I'll be fine. Go."

And with that, Stormfly swooped away, leaving Hiccup up alone on the mast.

"Oh, boy," Gobber groaned, still standing beside Stoick. "Here he goes again."

"He doesn't make it easy," Stoick sighed. "Hiccup!"

"You'll all see for yourselves!" his son cried down from the top of the ship, addressing the crowd. "When I attach this metal rod to the top of this mast..." A crash of lightning behind him made him flinch, but he kept talking, holding his spear up in the air to show everyone. "The lightning will be drawn to-"

Hiccup never finished his sentence.

A single streak of white-hot lightning snaked down, hitting the tip of the metal spear in Hiccup's hand. The energy from it traveled instantly through the rod and down the boy's arm, lighting up all of his small form with bolts of electricity. The air around the ship's mast crackled with energy.

"Hiccup!" Stoick cried.

The lightning strike traveled down Hiccup's body, surrounding him in tendrils of blue fire. His body trembled a bit. The boy's hands clenched into fists, one still on the metal rod and the other clinging to the mast of the ship. Instead of his eyes being wide with terror and his mouth open in a scream of pain, Hiccup's face showed nothing more than a quiet surprise.

The lightning was gone as soon as it had come. Hiccup stood there for a second more, swaying slightly, and then his head lolled and his legs buckled beneath him.

Stoick watched in horror as the unconscious body of his only son plummeted off the ship and fell into the icy water with a small splash.

"Son," he gasped, his eyes widening.

Toothless roared furiously, throwing himself against the chains. With a great _crack_, the Night Fury reared up, breaking away from the bonds.

Stoick rushed to the edge of the dock, staring down at the water. He could only barely see the form of Hiccup, deep under the water and going deeper still. A few small bubbles rose to the surface. Stoick was preparing himself to leap in when Toothless pushed both Gobber and the chief out of the way, leaping into the water and swimming down to the bottom. It was only seconds before both the boy and the dragon were out of Stoick's view. He searched the water desperately, but could still see nothing.

A sudden splash near the end of the dock caught Stoick's attention, and he whipped his head around to see the dripping form of Toothless, easily pulling Hiccup's limp body up onto the wooden platforms. "Hiccup?" Stoick whispered.

The dragon nudged his rider sadly a few times, but the small, skinny boy didn't move. His arms were spread out at his sides and his eyes closed.

Stoick grabbed Hiccup's arms, pulling the boy's torso up onto his lap as he stared down at the motionless body. Hiccup's head rested against Stoick's arm. He was reminded painfully of a moment that had taken place a few months ago when he had pulled his son close to him much in the same way, just after the battle with the Red Death, searching for a sign of life. Hiccup had lost the bottom part of his left leg then, but he seemed mostly unscathed this time. On the outside, at least. His whole body had been electrocuted, and since Hiccup was still so small... it wouldn't take much to make his heart stop beating for good.

Gobber looked over Hiccup's body with a worried expression on his face, one hand resting on the boy's leg. He glanced at Stoick's face.

"Son?" Stoick whispered. He could see the weak rise and fall of Hiccup's chest, indicating that he was still alive, but the chief didn't know how long it would last.

_Please, for the love of Thor and Odin and Freya and every other god to ever watch over Berk_, Stoick pleaded silently. _Please, please... just let my son live._

* * *

The fire in the hearth crackled softly as Gobber and Stoick sat around the table in the chief's hut, a depressed silence hanging in the air. The silence had engulfed the entire village, again reminding Stoick of the aftermath of the Red Death battle.

Stoick stared down at the ground. "Shouldn't he have woken up by now?"

His friend sighed. "I don't know, Stoick. The lightning was pretty powerful..."

"What if he never wakes up?" Stoick whispered.

"Don't think like that," Gobber said harshly. "The boy's survived falling from the sky and losing a limb. He'll survive this. It might take him a little longer to recover than if you or I were hit, but that's only because he's... a bit smaller. But he _will_ be okay. We're just lucky that the spear didn't hit him as he fell. He would have been impaled on that thing like a chunk of meat on a stick."

Stoick opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. He sighed.

"I'd be surprised if he's not up and running by tonight- tomorrow at the latest," Gobber continued.

Stoick froze. "Shh... did you hear that?" he whispered, straining his ears. He could have sworn a quiet moan had come from upstairs.

Gobber frowned, listening intently, and all was silent in the chief's hut. Then Stoick heard a soft voice from Hiccup's bedroom, a voice that he had been beginning to think he'd never hear again.

"Toothless... what happened, bud?"

Gobber grinned. "I told you so."

Stoick quickly got up from his chair and hurried upstairs, almost tripping multiple times in his haste.

Hiccup was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at his feet- or rather, foot. "Well, at least I didn't lose another one," he said, looking at Toothless, who purred joyfully.

"My boy," Stoick gasped. "You're all right." He scooped up Hiccup in his arms, holding him up so that their eyes were level, ignoring the fact that the boy's feet dangled at least a foot and a half off of the ground. There was a smile on Hiccup's face as the chief put him back on the ground and ran his hand over the boy's hair. "You took a lightning bolt to the head," Stoick said in amazement.

"Just like Bernstadt," Gobber agreed. "Except that we won't be throwing _you_ off the island."

"So, everyone knows that Thor wasn't mad at Toothless?" Hiccup asked, looking pleadingly up at his father's face.

"They do now," Stoick answered.

"And until we've figured out why Thor is angry at the metal, we're all walking on eggshells," Gobber added. He turned and headed back down the stairs.

Hiccup grinned. Toothless nudged his hand, and the boy stroked his dragon happily.

Stoick smiled to himself as he followed Gobber outside, Hiccup right behind him. It was impossible _not_ to smile. Stoick's son had survived getting hit full-on by lightning, falling from the top of a ship, and almost drowning.

_Pretty impressive for a 'hiccup', huh?_

* * *

**Okay, I saw Episode 13 last night, and I absolutely fell in love with the ending. I just had to write this. Please review, and thanks for reading!**


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